Mushtaq taking over as Chairman J&K Bank today

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Oct 5: Over a month after Haseeb Drabu’s dismissal by Omar Abdullah’s coalition government, nominee of the Board of Directors (BOD), Mushtaq Ahmed, is taking over as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Jammu & Kashmir Bank Ltd on Wednesday. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today communicated its approval to the appointment of Mushtaq Ahmed as Chairman of the J&K Bank following which Government of Jammu & Kashmir appointed him as a Director on Board, clearing decks for his appointment on the topmost position in the bank.

RBI sources revealed to Early Times that a number of “anonymous caveats” were overruled and nomination of Mushtaq Ahmed, as proposed and recommended by BOD of J&K Bank, was approved and finally communicated to J&K Bank today. According to these sources, “certain disgruntled elements” were at work to stall Mushatq’s appointment “for personal and political reasons”.

Sources in J&K Bank confirmed that RBI today granted approval to Mushatq’s appointment as Chairman and CEO of the bank. They said that the principal stake holder, Government of Jammu & Kashmir, nominated Mushtaq as a Director on Board, in terms of article of association. They disclosed that an extraordinary meeting of BOD would take place at Corporate Headquarters tomorrow at 1600 hours in which the government’s nominee director, Mushtaq Ahmed, would formally take over as Chairman and CEO. He would be taking over from Commissioner-Secretary Finance, Sudhanshu Pandey, who has been functioning as a government director in BOD for the last over one year and also as incharge Chairman and CEO of J&K Bank since the day Drabu was removed on August 27^th.

In a significant development, Government of Jammu & Kashmir had directed Drabu to tender his resignation as Chairman and CEO of J&K Bank on August 26^th. After Drabu’s resignation on August 27^th, BOD had submitted a list of three nominees, with necessary approval of J&K Government, to RBI for appointment of the new Chairman. While the former Executive Director, Mushtaq Ahmed, figured at the top, two senior KAS officers, Tanvir Jehan and G A Pir, were recommended as runners up. Pandey was asked to function as incharge Chairman, with constitution of two top level committees, until a full-fledged Chairman was appointed after necessary approval from RBI.

Drabu’s dismissal came as a surprise to many political and bureaucratic circles as they had been extolling him as the “Prime Minister’s nominee” on account of his proximity to one-time influential union Minister Jairam Ramesh. He had been appointed as Chairman of J&K Bank by PDP’s founder-president and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed with the replacement of Mohammad Yousuf Khan. According to informed sources, Drabu is now attempting to get a job with a media organization, though he has not publicly surfaced anywhere in the state or the country in the last over one month.

Drabu’s would-be successor, Mushaq Ahmed had reached superannuation in February 2008 after serving J&K Bank in different capacities for about 35 years. Hailing from the border area of Uri, Mushtaq had joined J&K Bank as a Probationary Officer in December 1972. After functioning as head of a number of branches as Chief Manager and Deputy General Manager, he headed the bank’s Investment and Treasury Operations as General Manager and continued to be its head even after he was elevated to the senior position of Executive Director. He earned considerable appreciation as an expert in loan and credit portfolio as also head of the Foreign Exchange department of which he was a founder.

He remained in oblivion after his retirement as Executive Director in February 2008.

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